DARLINGTON, SC (WBTW) – Darlington County School District Food Services employees were provided extra training last month to sharpen their culinary skills and improve the nutrition of the food served to students and their families.
The press release from Christopher McKagen of Darlington County School District says the 40 employees were able to have a full week of training alongside dietitians and professional chefs after receiving a grant from BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina.
The training covered inventive cooking methods and ways to add fresh spices and ingredients to food without adding sodium content. According to Darlington County School District, there is no longer a single fried dish on the menu.
“It was excellent training, and the school Food Services employees were very positive about their experiences,” Pam Vaughan, director of Food Services in Darlington County School District said. “We haven’t had an opportunity to provide this type of training to our staff before, and it was outstanding.”
At least one employee from each of the 19 school kitchens in DCSD completed the program.
The training was provided by Culinary Partners, a nonprofit organization that works with school kitchen staff to train in preparing and marketing healthy foods to students.
BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina funded a statewide grant to provide the training for more than 400 food services employees during a two-year period. The cost of the program for each location, which is funded by the grant, is about $15,000.
